Holiday Fun

Merry Christmas to all! I hope everyone had a great time with their families and friends. This year's Christmas was one of the more entertaining holidays I've celebrated. After partially recovering from a nasty head cold that put me out of commission on Tuesday (still not 100%, but getting there), I got up early on Wednesday to bake pecan pies to contribute to the meal. I headed to Aunt Tai's house a little before 2 and actually beat my parents there. The rest of the family had already arrived, although Richard and Betsy weren't there, so we didn't have their two little babies to entertain us. When my parents got there, mom was still riled up from dad's wrong turns that led to their slight delay. After mom had announced my dad's incompetence, and my uncle handed my dad a consolation beer, we tucked into the Christmas feast. The menu was somewhat scaled down this year, as I later learned that we had actually forgotten to take some of the other dishes out of the fridge or microwave where they were jammed because we were running out of space: turkey, beef Wellington, wild rice & sausage stuffing, roasted potatoes, curry beef pastries, spring rolls, barbecue ribs, potato salad, cinnamon rolls, meatballs and tomato sauce. From the menu, you can see that my family does not really stick to the traditional - it's really more about what everyone likes, regardless of what time of year it happens to be.

After everyone had sufficiently stuffed themselves, my uncle mentioned that he had Iron Man on blue ray, so he set that up for me and most of my cousins joined me for the movie on the big screen in the basement. The movie was awesome, and I will definitely make an effort to catch the sequel when it comes out in theaters. When the movie ended, we went upstairs for dessert, which consisted of my pies, apple pie, ice cream, fruit cake, chocolate rum balls, Godiva chocolates, and a rum cake made by the aunt that no one in my family likes. All of the desserts were sampled except for the rum cake, which only my dad was brave enough to try. In all honesty, it was probably fine, but my mom and her siblings had enough unpleasant experiences with the lady that they weren't taking any chances. As we were eating dessert, one of my uncles moved on to the harder alcohol in the liquor cabinet and had a glass of cognac. I only mention this because my uncle, who usually speaks his mind, was clearly having a great time, talking very loudly about almost everything. It must have sounded like a massive domestic dispute to anyone who could have heard us, but it was really just the sound of my big crazy family having a good time.

While everyone was sitting around chatting, I handed out my Christmas presents. The family had agreed that only the little kids would get presents from the extended family, which was ok with me. That just meant that we all got stuff for our immediate family. The first part of his gift was a couple of really fragrant teas to go with all the biscuits that I had brought him from England. The second part of his gift was actually for him and mom, and it was a gift card to Fogo de Chao. Dad seemed a little perplexed that I got him a gift card, but when I showed him the menu (really, just a picture of various cuts of juicy steak), he did a 180 and looked pretty excited. Mom seemed pretty happy with the gift card too, especially when I told her that she if she and dad went for lunch instead of dinner, they could go twice. Clearly, the key to my family's heart is through its enormous, iron-clad stomach. I got my mom a sweater, too, and for Mel, I bought a tailored shirt and some Bumble & Bumble hair stuff that she likes. They all seemed happy with their presents, so I think that was a pretty successful shopping trip this year.

And speaking of shopping, I did manage to brave the crowds today and went to the mall with Aunt Tai. She is the "cool aunt" and is definitely much more fashion forward than the rest of the family. She picked out some pieces that I probably would not have considered, but they actually looked quite decent and I ended up buying a jacket and some "fun" shirts ("fun" being defined as not appropriate for work and therefore can only be worn at bars or other places where I should be up to no good).

And so went another Christmas with the family, with everyone well-fed and content.